Sibling Fire: Azula and Zuko Ficlets
by paynesgrey
Summary: These are a series of ficlets exploring the individual personalities and family relationships between Prince Zuko and his sister, Princess Azula. Warning for implications.
1. Red Moon

AN: Spoilers for Season Three. Written for the "Lies" theme at AvatarContest on Livejournal.

Red Moon

He shut his eyes tightly as red moonlight soaked into his bedroom while he tried to sleep.

His skin itched. He hadn't been comfortable in his own body lately; not since he betrayed Uncle - and certainly not since he'd taken his sister's side and threw everything away to join her.

_You know he's alive,_ droned a whisper inside his head. He gritted his teeth, trying to embrace the darkness of slumber. His muscles were stiff, strangled by his fear and shame.

Azula's laughter crowed out, vibrating against his ears. Eyes wide open, he saw that she wasn't there. His room drummed with stale silence, but she haunted him in thought just the same. Zuko sighed heavily, and the air felt cold against his lips.

Azula knew the Avatar was alive too; Zuko could just feel it in the way she looked at him, smirking as her lips twitched to the energy of birthing fallacies. She'd sashay over to him, and his body would instantly tense. That was what she did to people; intimidating them in the way she carried herself, deceptive and dangerous. The air would charge with her presence, and he'd feel the prickles of her power skip over his flesh - tearing at his nerves for control.

Zuko slammed a pillow over his head. He didn't know if he could endure this facade any longer, not when his father always chose Azula over him.

He'd deluded himself into taking their side again, betraying Uncle only to be caught up in their usual games. He'd realized too late that he'd never get what he really wanted - it wasn't his path and never was. And if he thought he'd been any closer to his father's love by now, he knew he'd just be lying to himself.


	2. Sister

AN: Done for the "History" theme at avatar contest on Livejournal

Sister  
  
She had a history of burning him - laughing gleefully as the hot streaks of lightening licked his skin, leaving a pathway of boils and blisters. It took forever to heal, mostly because she would find someway to touch the wound, grabbing it.

"Hey Zuzu..." She squeezed; he winced. She leaned close to his ear and whispered, "Train with me." Which really meant, "Let me torture you."

And she'd laugh, and find other ways to burn him again - with words, with looks, with the way she slipped poison into his mind, cracking at his honor and muffling his true destiny.

She always knew the right things to say, even if she was wrong.

And she scarred him - her duplicitous affection reaching through to the bone. Sibling love was all too foreign to him; he and Azula played those roles in different ways. It had always been about competition for Father's love, which Zuko had always failed at - no matter how hard he tried, no matter what he did.

It was all so silly, really. He was no match for Azula in that respect and it took him a long time to learn he no longer needed to match her. He no longer would let her burn him like she always would.

The pathway to the outside world stretched before him, promising him a new history where Azula didn't belong. Until then, the Western Air Temple and the Avatar would provide the sanctuary he was meant for.

When he returned, he would match his sister with a different kind of fire. And then, he would win. 


	3. Stupid

**Characters/Pairings:** Zuko/Azula, implied Zuko/Mai  
**Rating:** PG-13 for implications  
**Word Count:** 192  
**Warnings:** incestuous thoughts  
**Notes:** Written for the "Chocolate" challenge at the avatar incest community at Livejournal.

**Summary:** His mind had to go there, and it was all her fault.

Stupid

He glowered at her and couldn't believe where his mind was going. He hated when his mind went _there_, and if he could just keep his eyes away from her stupid tongue licking the melting chocolate from that stupid ice cream cone, he wouldn't have even fathomed it. His thoughts would have been _safe_.

But they weren't, and a vision flashed in his head, and suddenly, she was licking the stupid chocolate off his own stupid tongue, and she was grinning and cackling as he fell right under her spell.

"What are you staring at?" Mai asked, bringing him out of his ugly thoughts.

Zuko shot his sister a look, who appeared oblivious to the whole game. Zuko knew otherwise; she was far from innocent. She didn't have to say anything; that stupid smile and her scheming eyes had said it all. He knew it; his sister was _always_ up to something when it came to him, and because of that, he could never keep his annoying perversions away.

"Nothing," he snapped, turning away and moping.

Stupid chocolate ice cream cone. Stupid Azula. If only Mai could make him feel that crazy.


	4. In Hot Water

**AN: Written for the "Wave" theme at avatar incest at Livejournal. Warning for innuendoes. **

* * *

In Hot Water

When the bath water went from lukewarm to scalding, he scowled at her. She whined that the water was too cold, but he didn't think she should be complaining. It was _his_ bath she was interrupting, after all.

He looked away as she drew the string from her robe, and he shuddered as the water moved around him. Still, he refused to look at her as she dipped herself into _his_ bath.

"Ah…" she exhaled. "This is much better. I don't know how you can stand such ice water."

"What are you even doing here?" he snapped at her. She only snickered, and he felt the water shift around him again.

He snapped his head toward her, and his eyes widened in disgust. She met his expectations anxiously, extending upon his anger and transforming it into the most seductive and frightening feeling he's ever had before.

His mouth opened up for her, ready. And the water around him felt weighted and suffocated, and he hated that he didn't even mind. He shivered unnaturally to her touch, and immediately the blame fell on her.

Azula was always the one making waves, but Zuko was just as guilty of riding the tide.


	5. It Doesn't Matter To Me

**Title:** It Doesn't Matter To Me  
**Character:** Azula, Zuko mentioned.  
**Rating:** G  
**Word Count:** 194  
**Notes:** "The Beach" spoilers, I suppose. I don't really write in first person, so this was a bit of a challenge for me to get her voice down. Written for the "Mother" theme at Avatar Contest on Livejournal.

**Summary:** It's her mother's birthday, and she convinces herself she doesn't care.

* * *

It's my mother's birthday today, and the servants can't stop whispering about it throughout the palace. I try to ignore it. It means nothing to me.

I don't believe my mother really loved me. She might have been more terrified of me than anything.

I don't really remember her that much anyway. No matter.

My brother had enough of her love. I suppose she couldn't spare any for me, despite what she thought of me.

I'm quite sure by the way she looked at me – the fear and shame in her eyes – that she considered me a monster. A little girl. Ha. Isn't that funny?

My own mother thought I was an inhuman, unfeeling beast when I was just a little girl.

Not that I care. I didn't care then, and I certainly don't care now. I have father, and he's strong. He's not weak like she is.

I don't need a mother, and I don't care what Zuko says. He can have her all to himself – if she's even alive at all.

No matter. It doesn't concern me if she's dead or not. This kingdom has survived without her, and so have I.


	6. Pity and Finality

**Rating:** PG  
**Spoilers/Warnings:** None. Character Death and Angst. Some implications.  
**Notes:** Written for the "Mark Twain Quote" for avatar contest at LJ.  
**Word Count:** 324  
**Summary:** Only he knows how she wants it to end.

Pity and Finality

She's not laughing now. She's not sorry or ashamed. If her life rewinds, she'd do it all over again just the same way.

She squints her eyes at the sun through the window and curses it. It's not her fault she's failed. She's given everything her best and is _still_ the best.

This next breath could be her last, and she has no friends to share her last moments with. She doesn't need friends and never did.

A shadow blankets her as she stays still on the floor. Her lungs feel heavy; it hurts to breathe but she won't say so. Especially not to him – never to _him_.

She wishes she could get one last line in before she goes, just to make him angry or make him squirm. She loves that about him – his emotions and the anger that flares up in his face.

Now, she doesn't see anger. She sees pity and finality, and she hates that she can't even sit up. The least he could do is come down to her level, look her in the eyes and call her a fool.

She smirks and reaches a hand to him. _This is stupid. I'm dying. I shouldn't be dying. I should be winning. _

And it's too late to mourn 'should have beens'. Now, she must concentrate on her funeral. Only he knows what to give her.

"Burn me," she says, and she realizes how cold the floor is.

She wonders if a stone has blocked the breath in her throat, and she feels his fingers trace over her eyelids to close them.

She can hear the kiss of flames as it devours fabric and wood, and she sighs. It's hot and getting hotter, and the black smoke fills her lungs. Fire kisses her flesh, and she feels ready.

She laughs inside because her throat is burning. She hopes there's humor where she going because she's always known she's too wonderful for heaven.


	7. Premature Hope

AN: Written for the "forbidden" challenge atla-contest on Dreamwidth. Pairing: Azula/Zuko. Word Count: 637. Rated PG.

* * *

Premature Hope

Her hands gripped the bars tightly, so much that he saw the whites of her knuckles. Instinct triggered within him, and he was afraid she'd try something. (She couldn't; the chi-blockers visited her frequently, but that didn't mean his sister wouldn't keep him on edge.)

"Did you ever love me, Zuzu?" Her voice cooed like a tempting bird.

Zuko paused, hesitation overwhelming him as he burrowed deep within his memories to respond. He looked at her, trying to unearth his feelings so tightly packed by debris and anger deep inside his heart.

"Yes," he said simply, and he didn't know how much time has passed between them. Azula did, as he saw a grin stretch widely over her pale face.

"Ahh...you hesitated, dear brother. That hurts," she said with a pout. He frowned at her, and he placed his hand over hers on the bars. He expected her to flinch, to pull away in a violent rage, insulted and violated.

Instead, he felt her fingers shift, moving, with one long nail tracing down the side of his thumb. He shivered.

"It shouldn't," he said finally, watching with intensity as she touched him. It'd been so long since they'd had any contact. He'd mostly avoided her in this prison. He decreed orders from afar, hoping she had adequate care but making sure there was no chance for her to escape, to rebel and rise up against him.

She still could.

Instead, he was entranced by her interlocking their fingers, and he saw it as a strange metaphor of her surrender to him, reminding him of what sort of people they had become after the war. "Oh?" she responded just above a whisper, a thin sliver of mockery resonating in her voice.

"I could have something quickly, something cruel and resolute," he said, his tone seemingly gentle and stern at the same time, like a father - only wiser, calmer. Azula was shaken by it, for a second, by pulling back, and then she resolved her stare into his eyes, that wicked darkness that burned like a barely dying fire, ready to reignite the moment the dry sticks hit the embers.

"Instead, I thought about it. You should see that as..."

"Mercy?" She threw her head back and laughed madly, her hair flinging wildly in her face.

"Truth," he countered. "And kind to give you any thought."

"And what about now?" she demanded, rattling the steel in her prison. "Do you love me now, brother? Or do you pity me? I will take your hatred over pity any day. I will take disgust over love!"

"Then why do you ask, Azula?" he said with a heavy sigh, rubbing his temple. He turned to leave but she screamed after him.

"You should hate me enough to kill me! To make me pay! What kind of leader are you that lets traitors rot instead of die?" she taunted.

"I could never hate you, Azula. I tried, and sometimes, I thought I did," he said, his eyes charged with fury but his expression was wary.

"So you keep me alive out of love? Is that it?" She spat at his feet.

He sighed again, frowning at her rage. He wondered, was it love? Why _did_ he keep her alive?

Did he seriously believe she could change? That she could learn something from prison?

_She__'__s __still __young__. __I __learned __to __change __once__. __No __one __is __beyond __change__; __the __Avatar __has __taught __me __that__._

But he couldn't tell her that, not now. She still clearly wasn't ready for such feelings, such obviously lofty hope.

He met her eyes again and spoke calmly. "Do you want it to be love?"

Frowning, Azula glared at him but did not answer.

"You hesitated, Azula," he said, surprising her with a smile. "It almost gives me hope."


End file.
